


Blood-red Carnations

by Lulukaw



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Azure Moon Spoilers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Mild descriptions of blood and injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26374855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lulukaw/pseuds/Lulukaw
Summary: [slight spoilers of Azure Moon's final chapter]"Edelgard's eyes remained open. Despite the pool of blood forming under her body, her arms and legs started to move, dragging her weight down the marble stairs. The pain should have been unbearable. But by now, after all these years, it was but a numb, cold sensation digging through her chest. She had to hurry."The Empire has lost. Edelgard has been left to die alone in the throne room but she can't accept it. She needs to reunite with her beloved knight first.
Relationships: Ingrid Brandl Galatea/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Blood-red Carnations

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Naelhinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naelhinn/gifts).



> Hey there!  
> First of all, this text is a gift for my wonderful friend Naelhinn. Happy birthday Nae you're the best!!! Now, remember that 'romantic angst' thing I very vaguely told you I was writing like a month and a half ago? Well, it's Edelgrid and it's for you. I hope you'll like it, I sure loved writing it for you <3
> 
> This work hasn't received any betareading, it should be pretty much okay but English isn't my first language so I can only hope there won't be too many mistakes (especially with tenses I seem to have issues with that ugh). Sorry in advance if there are and I wish you all a good reading!!

The last swirls of blue and black capes turning on her. The loud and solemn sound of the tall doors of the throne room closing. The deafening cheers of victory rising outside the palace. It was over.

But Edelgard's eyes remained open. Despite the pool of blood forming under her body, her arms and legs started to move, dragging her weight down the marble stairs with difficulty. Dimitri had left her to die at the foot of her throne. But there was somewhere else she wanted to be, had to be for that purpose.

The pain should have been unbearable. But by now, after all these years, after this fight that had made the torture her body suffered all her life reach its peak, it was but a numb, cold sensation digging through her chest.

She crawled towards a door half-hidden behind her throne, one hitching breath after the other, one nail clawing at each tile of the floor after the other. She had to hurry. Not because she was dying, she would cling to life with an obstination even more powerful and unreasonable than the one she had displayed through her conquest. But because the soldiers and generals of the Kingdom would soon take over the entire palace. There was not any sound coming from behind this door yet, but it would not last.

Her determination gave her the strength to open that door and slide through the small gap, but she immediately paid the price of such an effort. Her head started spinning, the familiar but not less nauseating taste of blood filled her mouth and she coughed, threw up, felt she was about to faint. Images began to impose themselves in her mind, memories. She held onto them to keep her eyes open, to ignore the pain, to only think of her objective, her last will,  _ her _ . She kept on moving.

_____

Edelgard stood at her desk in the classroom, frowning. How many had it been already?

“This is the sixth one in less than two weeks,” Hubert answered her silent question. “Do you truly not wish for me to investigate this matter Lady Edelgard?”

“No, Hubert. This is intriguing to say the least, but I’d rather simply keep on ignoring them. These are but harmless flowers after all.”

For it was a flower that was placed on her desk. She would sometimes find another in front of the door to her room. A deep-red carnation in full bloom, its round, notched petals abounding and spreading on the dark wood of the desk. That Edelgard found this matter intriguing was actually a weak word. She was confused. And with each new one she felt less and less able to disregard them. Who could send these flowers to her, the cold, authoritative, too serious leader of the Black Eagle House? And who could manage to get past Hubert’s vigilance above all? She had thought of a threat when the first carmine flower had landed in front of her room. An attempt at blackmail perhaps, someone who had discovered her secret. But no one had manifested themselves and there was never any word or letter attached. If it was not a threat, it had to be either a gift or a joke. Carnations were her favourite flowers, which only added to her perplexity. The sender had to be someone who knew her well. In the monastery, the only person she could think of was Hubert and she was fairly certain it was not him. He had never been able to hide anything from her that convincingly. She would take offense actually, if he could suddenly act so well.

She had thought of Dorothea too. Edelgard saw her as a straightforward woman if she wanted something but this style actually suited her too, either seriously or not. But they were together three days ago when Edelgard had discovered the fifth carnation. Her delight and enthusiasm had immediately burst and she had started to tease her about a secret admirer. It was unlikely she could be the sender.

Edelgard sighed and hid the flower before Dorothea could see it and pester her about how romantic it was again. She spent the entire time of class observing the other students around her. No matter how hard she thought about it she could not see any of them doing this. She wondered if it could be someone from another house. It was probably the most plausible. But if it was her duty as a leader to know each of the Black Eagles, she had to admit she had never put in the effort to get acquainted with anyone else. She simply did not have the time. And she did not have the time to play along with whoever was sending her these flowers anonymously.

Yet as she regained her room in the evening, she opened the book on her bed and slipped the carnation between the pages, joining the two others already drying in it. Hubert had confiscated the first three and Edelgard had pretended to throw the others away. Why was she keeping them? She had no time for this. Still, she stayed a few minutes sat on her bed, looking at the small, delicate red flowers, vivid contrast against the white pages of the book. She really had to focus on more important matters. The tips of her fingers caressed the soft petals distractedly. She was actually dying to know.

Eventually, she snapped the book closed and hid it under the blanket before going to her desk, determined to study. She had no time for this.

_____

At last she had reached it. Before her, the wide white room opened. The quiet here seemed unreal, the silence an illusion when chaos was surely prevailing right behind the tall sheltering walls. Had she not been gasping for air already, Edelgard would have sighed in relief. The place remained untouched. It was not so surprising as the only two entrances were hidden and forbidden, save for one other person. The large marble columns still stood on each side, rising up to the glass canopy that let the golden light of the setting sun flow and flood the entire space. Down a flight of stairs spread the only touch of colour in the immaculate room. A deep-red field of carnations.

Edelgard should have felt comfort, a familiar reassurance at their sight. But it was worry and fear that pooled in her stomach instead. She was alone. She had thought, hoped to find her here, waiting. It was what Edelgard had managed with great difficulty to make her promise before shutting the doors of the throne room. That they would meet here, no matter the outcome. But maybe she could not make it. Maybe it was too late.

Despair and resignation took over her whole body. So it was a complete defeat through and through. Dimitri had managed to take everything from her, even death as she wanted it to be. She lied down on the steps, so close to her beloved flowers that only reminded her of how far she was from the one who shared this love. She let a single tear stream down her cheek as she closed her eyes. Her heart started to slow down as there was no reason to force it to beat anymore. She felt her consciousness fade and tried to grasp a few more of her memories. At least them, the memories of her could accompany the empress in death.

But the faint sound of a door sliding suddenly called her back, followed by an exclamation:

“Your Majesty!”

It was the voice she wanted to hear so desperately. She would have thought it was but a cruel mirage in the fog of her dying mind if not for the arms seizing her, the weight of a body embracing her not a few seconds later. She opened her eyes again and met a pale face, paler than usual, and two emeralds filled with exhaustion, dread and guilt, but glinting nonetheless.

Edelgard managed a smile that probably looked more like a grimace as Ingrid pulled her delicately in her lap.

“Here at last… my beloved knight.”

But her relief lasted only a few seconds. Her knight was wounded. She was out of breath and, as much as she tried to hide it, her face was contorted with pain. The scarlet cloak Edelgard had gifted her was torn, the ribbons usually holding her hair had disappeared and of her lance remained only the blade that she clenched in her hand as an ultimate defense against whoever had stood in her path to her empress. Streaks of blood ran on her arms and thighs, likely caused by multiple arrows and her cheeks covered in dust were crossed by lighter trails. Edelgard had a thought for Ingrid's pegasus. But the real wound was revealed by the shattered armour, a hole on her left side, the result of a violent, cruel blow. Fatal.

Edelgard lifted a hand but did not have the strength to reach Ingrid's cheek. Her knight took it to make it achieve its way and silent, warm tears started to stream down her face.

"I couldn't protect you…I'm so sorry Your Majesty."

Many words came to Edelgard's mind. Reassurance that it was okay, that it was not her fault, that she had been the one to send her out of the throne room. Scolding at the fact that she had so clearly carelessly put herself in danger. She did not have enough energy nor time left to say everything. They both did not. She chose to smile again instead, a familiar, genuine smile that they could only ever share in private. She forced her lungs to give her enough air to speak.

"How many times… must I tell you… to call me by my name?"

It got a small laugh out of her, half chuckle, half sob.

“I hoped at least a hundred times more, Your Majesty.”

Edelgard answered her smile. She had hoped too, no she had been persuaded they would have many more years. But now... Now, loyalty, titles, Empire, nothing had any importance anymore. Edelgard only wanted Ingrid to be with her, not her knight, not her subject, only her Ingrid. She turned her head to look at the field again. The deep-red plain spread just a few steps below them, its sweet powerful fragrance almost covering the metallic and sickening smell of blood. Such beauty still intact, indifferent to their pain.

“Do you remember that day… in the greenhouse?”

The dreamy look Ingrid gave her was the softest Edelgard had seen in what seemed forever.

“How could I forget?”

That day when it all started between the two of them, still at the Academy. Edelgard remembered it as one of the brightest days of her life otherwise so dark. The day that had made all the following ones feel a little warmer.

When she spoke again, her voice was no more than a whisper and she felt these words would be the last she could utter:

“I want to lie in the field.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ingrid replied immediately and slowly began to descend the stairs with Edelgard, towards the field of carnations. "Let's go lie there."

_____

The sun was high in the sky of a summer afternoon when Edelgard entered the greenhouse, determination and a hint of annoyance in her step. She had finally found her secret admirer. At least, she had been only  _ nearly _ sure of it right before coming in, but now it was a certitude. A satisfied smile tugged at her lips as she watched the person kneeling in front of the flower bed growing carnations turn around to look at the newcomer. There was no need to confirm anything, the surprise and embarrassment on Ingrid’s face made it clear that she was correct. Edelgard asked before she could even explain herself or apologise:

“How did you know?”

A short silence stretched as Ingrid’s eyes expressed incomprehension at her question. Edelgard’s irritation only grew and she made her way towards her, eyes stern and a hand on her hip. Surely she was playing with her, pretending not to know anything even though she had been caught. Edelgard did not have enough patience, especially not after these last three weeks of unwanted - absolutely unwanted - distraction she had caused.

“These flowers. Who told you they were my favourites?”

Instead of any guilt or further trace of embarrassment, Ingrid’s face lit up with a thin smile.

“Oh they really are then? I only had a hint. I’m glad I wasn’t mistaken.”

“A hint?” Edelgard’s brows furrowed. Somehow, she felt that she was losing control over the situation and she did not like it. For how long had this girl, whose existence Edelgard had not even truly considered until only a dozen of days ago, been watching her from afar?

Ingrid looked up at her with finally an ounce of apology in her eyes. Such bright, large green eyes, Edelgard could not help but notice.

“You probably don’t remember, it’s been a while already after all. One day about a month ago, we were both assigned to chores in the greenhouse.”

She did not remember. She was regularly assigned to the greenhouse, each time with different partners to whom she would almost never speak.

A faint blush coloured Ingrid’s cheeks as she went on, almost imperceptible if only her skin was not so pale:

“I figured. Anyway, on that day the first carnations bloomed, the red ones. And you were caring for them. Your hair was falling all around you as you were so focused and I noticed… I just thought these flowers being so red and your hair so white looked really pretty together,” she spoke faster by the second, eager to get every word out of her mind, playing with her hair and lowering her eyes at the flowers, and yet her voice was still perfectly steady. “Before I knew it I was leaving one of them on your doorstep and couldn’t help myself. I just thought I would like to see a red carnation in your hair again. Still, I am truly sorry about all of this.”

She stopped talking at last, but Edelgard was speechless. She reached for a strand of her hair unconsciously. She had always been acutely aware of its unusual colour and hated it for the pain and memories it stood for. She always tried not to think about it too much every day. But today, this girl who knew next to nothing about her was telling her that she liked it, that it actually was pretty. She should have felt offended perhaps. At the fact that someone would compliment the result of the awful experiments she had suffered. Instead, she felt something she could not identify stir within her. It was because of her voice, she realised. Despite her apologies, she could sense determination in Ingrid’s voice. If she really was embarrassed about her behaviour, she did not seem to regret it. And she looked unafraid of Edelgard’s reaction. She was only one step away from Ingrid, looking down at her as she had not gotten up and yet she felt as though their positions were reversed. Edelgard was quite impressed and unsettled despite not letting anything show on her face. And as much as she repeated to herself that she should stop this, that she could not spare the time for any new relationship of any sort, she was curious too.

"Are you aware of the fact that red carnations symbolise love and admiration?"

"I am."

She had answered immediately, her eyes locked with Edelgard's. She showed nothing of it of course, but the leader of the Black Eagles wanted to laugh in surprise at such confidence. Over the course of the last week she had observed Ingrid. She had often seen her scolding this red-haired friend of hers for his flirting habits. But she was actually not much better. And as ashamed of it as she was, refusing to admit it even to herself, Edelgard seemed to be falling for it. Ingrid appeared to notice it too. Averting her eyes again, she delicately plucked a carnation from the flowerbed before finally getting up. Edelgard could only watch her every movement, waiting. She understood what Ingrid had in mind when she saw her approach the hand that held the flower towards her face. She saw the silent request for permission in her eyes. She felt unable to move or speak, or maybe was she simply unwilling to do so, and so she let her place the deep-red carnation in her white hair. It was only a matter of seconds but Edelgard held her breath, her whole body tensing under the touch. For how long had she not allowed anyone to touch her? It was so light yet so close, and gone both too late and too soon. Edelgard opened her eyes again, not remembering when she had closed them, to see Ingrid appraise her work with a smile.

"Red carnations really suit you."

And with that, Edelgard admitted she was definitely falling for it. For the first time in her life, she decided not to go against it. For the first time in her life, she decided to let someone else enter.

With a smile of her own, she replied:

"You have distracted me from important matters these last few weeks. How do you intend to make up for it?" 

_____

Oh how she had made up for it. Nearly not a day had passed in the last five years where they had not been together, in the greenhouse, in the dining hall, having tea in the gardens. Ingrid had stayed by her side all this time, offered her support and an escape from her burdens, her nightmares and her responsibilities. Edelgard had done her best to offer as much in return. The first time she had managed to make her laugh stayed engraved in her memory. She could not remember what had made her laugh but she could play that warm, crystalline sound in her mind again and again as if it had echoed only seconds before.

Edelgard was trying to remember everything while she still could as they both lay in the field of carnations. The happiness, the lightness she felt whenever she was with Ingrid. The fear too, on the fateful day when she had revealed her true nature and objective in the Holy Mausoleum. Ingrid’s face in that moment… she had thought that she had lost her. The joy she felt when Ingrid escaped Garreg Mach to join her troops had been so overwhelming. She was angry that Edelgard had kept everything from her, but she was there.

She was there now, looking at her with her bright green eyes and the same intensity as the first day. Edelgard knew she was remembering their time together too. She had taken her crown, thrown it as far as she could and was now plucking flowers to braid them delicately in her hair. She had stopped crying, was smiling instead, no matter how painful it was. Edelgard was trying her best to smile as well. They both knew it was the expression the other wanted to see last. She could only watch her adorn her long white strands with red. She wished she could caress her face, cling to her side but she was unable to move, her hand only allowed to rest on Ingrid’s chest where she had placed it. She had not the strength to speak anymore either, barely to breathe. She could feel her heart slowing down, could feel it about to stop. Ingrid seemed to feel it too. For the last time, she approached her face and slowly covered her lips with hers. Ingrid’s skin was still so warm and soft, her scent such a comfort that it was enough to make Edelgard forget the pain and the taste of the blood on her tongue. Their kiss lasted several long, slow seconds before Ingrid broke it. Edelgard did not open her eyes again. She felt Ingrid place one last flower, next to her ear, and then embrace her. She heard her voice, barely more than an exhausted whisper, close, so close to her before her consciousness drifted away:

"Red carnations really do suit you, El."


End file.
